Two months old

Tomorrow my sweet angel will be two months old!  There is no other word to describe her other than amazing.  I don't think I have ever seen a baby smile so much.  I have been watching her the past few days and marveling at the wonderful creation she is.  I am still in awe of her.  She is so much more than I ever imagined.

Emory...

1.  loves to be talked to.  Talking to her is sure to bring smiles.

2.  weighs over 11 lbs.  Her chubby cheeks, arms, and legs are the cutest things I have ever seen.

3.  loves taking a bath. 

4.  loves being outside and going for rides in her stroller.

5.  is now responding to her Dad's voice.  She gets so excited when he comes home.

6.  makes a "whoo whoo" noise that sounds like a monkey when she is excited or frustrated.

7.  moves her little arms and legs so fast when she is excited that it looks like she is running in place.

8. is still eating every 3 hours, but will sometimes sleep up to 5 hours at night.

9. still has light brown hair and beautiful blue eyes.

10.  loves taking naps in her swing.

11.  still hates being in her carseat, but is getting better.

12. LOVES her binky.  Its the fastest way to calm her down when she is upset (which is rare).

Liberty continues to adore her.  I am very surprised that she has not been jealous at all.  I'm not sure why though, since she was the exact same way with Lilly.  She is kind and so willing to help when it comes to her baby sister.  She is just so proud of her.

We feel so incredibly blessed to be Emory's parents.  She is such an amazing, beautiful, and sweet baby and we are so in love with her.

Enjoying what's left of summer

We are taking it easy and enjoying the rest of summer. I am actually looking forward to the Fall weather, but completely dreading winter already. We have a park within walking distance of our house. Even though we have a huge back yard, it is nice to walk to the park to play. The girls love getting outside when the heat, rain, and mosquitos don't prevent it. The weather has been so crazy this summer, but I have been loving all the rain.

Emory enjoying a ride in her stroller

This year Liberty finally learned how to swing all by herself. I had no idea this took so much coordination and apparently isn't an easy task. She still doesn't like to go very high, but she is slowly becoming more brave.

Last week I took Liberty to get her hair cut. It was out of control and I couldn't stand it any longer. Now she looks so grown up. Just perfect for her first year of Kindergarten. I guess its just because she is about to start school, but she just seems so grown up to me. Five years have gone by in a flash!

new haircut

Emory is growing so fast as well. She is amazing, but I will save the details for her two month post. This picture is completely representative of what type of baby she is. She is just so easy-going and happy. I can't get enough of those smiles!

New Blog

I started a new blog specifically about our homeschool. Check it out at www.thehaasschool.blogspot.com.

Gearing up for school

I have started this blog so I will have a place dedicated to blogging about our homeschool adventure. It will serve as both a record for me and a place to post the things Liberty is doing so all can enjoy.

We will officially begin our school year on Tuesday, September 8. I really wanted to make sure we had a good routine in our new home before we added the extra stress of school. I think we have finally achieved that goal and I am hoping starting school will be an easy transition.

We are using My Father's World as our Kindergarten curriculum. As I mentioned in previous blogs, choosing a curriculum was very overwhelming for me. Scott and I settled on this one while at the convention this year. It is all-encompassing and will cover everything she needs to learn in Kindergarten, including reading, writing, math, and science. In addition to these lessons, she will also do art and music at least once a week. Each lesson will take between 60-90 minutes to complete. Can you believe the Liberty will be able to learn as much and more than her public school counterparts in less than 2 hours a day? That is just one of the benefits of homeschool!

We are both so excited to get started. I know we will face some challenges as we develop a routine and find what works best for us, but we are ready. I still can't believe Liberty is ready to start school. We have been talking about it for so long. Where did the time go?

Check this blog often to see what our little princess is up to and how much she learning!

Gone is the summer

Even though we won't start school with Liberty until after Labor Day, I still feel like our summer has come to an end. On Monday I took on another child that I will watch 5 days a week. Thankfully, she is 4 and doesn't require much attention. The difficulty will be keeping her occupied while Liberty does her school work in the mornings. Liberty also started Gymnastics/Cheerleading on Monday. She was too cute. She has tried just about every class the gym offers, but I think cheerleading is going to be her favorite. I am also looking into piano lessons, but haven't decided if we should try to take that on right now. So, our fall activities have begun and I am already exhuasted!

Even though we are busy, I am looking forward to the routine. The summer has been hectic with the new baby and the move. I am looking forward to having a schedule again. The new house is great. It's not much compared to our old house, but we are really content here. It is significantly smaller than our last house which makes it that much easier to clean! It's also nice to be in town where everything is so close. It's nothing just to run to the store or meet Scott for lunch. I love that.

I weighed Emory on Monday and she is up to a whopping 11 lbs at 6 weeks old. She is absolutely the cutest thing I have ever seen. Even though she is packing on the pounds she isn't near as chubby as Liberty was at this age. She has the sweetest temperment and is content most of the time. She is awake more and more these days, which I just love. There are also nights when she is going 4-5 hours between feedings , which is awesome. I hope that will become more of a regular occurance here in the next few weeks. I need sleep!

Fun on the farm

We spent last week with my parents in Eastland, TX. Because they live almost 5 hours away, we don't get to see them very often. Liberty was thrilled when she found out we would be staying all week. She adores her Nana and Papa and she gets to do stuff on the farm that she can't do at home. The highlight of the week was building Liberty a playhouse. Somehow she managed to talk her Papa into it. This turned out to be no ordinary playhouse. Its about 5 feet by 8 feet and weighs a ton. Dad welded the frame together and the rest is tin. Liberty loved being able to help. Once completed she and Papa loaded it on a trailer so we could haul it all the way to Oklahoma. Thanks to her Uncle Shane for being willing to haul it and help Scott unload it!

Liberty in Papa's welding hood with Nana

Liberty using the drill to remove old screws

Liberty and Papa on the tractor

My parents have two small ponds on their property. We thought Liberty would enjoy going out in the boat. Uncle Shane offered to take her. This turned out to be a bad idea. She absolutely hated it. She was terrified and then once in the boat she found and ant on her leg (she is afraid of all insects). After that it was back to the shore and she was done with boating. I managed to get some really cute pictures though.

Uncle Shane, Aunt Sissy, Liberty

We we are in Texas we always try to visit Lilly's grave. It's pretty much an all day event since the cemetary is and hour and a half from my parents house. Liberty is always really anxious to go even though it makes her sad once we are there. She always sit on Lilly's headstone for a while and then she sings songs to Lilly. She does this every time. I'm not sure why, but I guess it helps her in some way. While we were there we had to replace the tree we planted last December. It was doing great, but didn't survive the Texas heat this summer. The tree is really special for Liberty. We decorate it whenever we can and she just loves it. We've all gotten so much rain this summer that the cemetary was so green. It was nice since I typically only see it all brown and burned up from the heat.

Liberty planting the new tree.

Those are just a few of the activities of the week. We had a blast and we are glad to be back home.

Rough Creek Lodge

After a stressful month of having a baby and moving, Scott and I decided we needed a family getaway weekend. We wanted to go somewhere we would all enjoy so we headed to Rough Creek. Scott was the restaurant manager there for two years so we always get star treatment when we go. This time was no exception, it was amazing.

We got there on Friday about lunch time. We ate and headed straight to the pool. The pool was so great. It had a slide and a lazy river and was definitely the highlight of our weekend.

Relaxing by the pool

On Friday night we had dinner with friends who had come in from Houston. Way more food than we could possibly eat. For dessert the chef sent out one of everything for each of us! It was the best part of the meal--creme brulee, chocolate cake, pecan pie... It was amazing. I guess its pays to know the chef!

On Saturday we went swimming right after breakfast and then headed to Ft. Worth for little Henry's first birthday party. What a sweet little man. We are thrilled that he is finally home! Saturday afternoon it stormed really bad, so no more swimming. Liberty decided after the rain stopped she would hit a few golf balls.

Saturday night Rough Creek did a fireworks show which was wonderful. We sat out on the patio all evening then watched the fireworks. Liberty loved being outside. Liberty, being the social butterfly that she is, talked two teenagers into catching a duck for her to pet. After that they were best friends and she watch the fireworks with them. Liberty doesn't discriminate when it comes to making friends--boys, girls, adults, children, it doesn't matter to her!

Liberty's new friends

Mommy and Emory

On Sunday our getaway ended and we headed to my parents house for the week. Pics of a week on the farm to come...

One month old

I have so much blogging to catch up on. It's going to take several posts :). I'll start with Emory because she is one month old. I absolutely cannot believe how quickly time is flying. Everyday I look at her and she is different. At this stage they literally grow right before your eyes. She has gotten increasingly chunky--taking after Liberty. I have no idea how much she weighs, but she has to be nearing 9lbs if not more!

Emory and her Great Great Grandpa!

She...

1. still has the most amazing blue eyes.
2. has brown hair although it is getting lighter
3. is slightly balding in the front :)
4. has started smiling, which is my absolute favorite
5. is eating every three hours, even at night
6. still looks just like her daddy
7. has the most beautiful complexion--she came out with a natural tan
8. has the same nose and mouth as Liberty and Lilly
9. she loves her binky. thankfully I haven't seen much thumbsucking.
10. she loves to be held and will cry if she feel no one is paying attention to her
11. she hates her car seat if she is awake. we have already had to pull the car over several times to get her out because she was crying hysterically.

I am in awe of her. I just sit and stare at her sometimes and I can't believe she is mine and that she is so wonderful. I think its amazing that I can look at my third little girl and still be so captivated by everything she does. I am so in love with her!